The Demon Kingdom Territory of Westwood.
This land, covered mostly by mountains and vast forests, is inhabited by races categorized as “demonic beasts.” It is now a contested area in a conflict with the western elf nation.
About four months since the war began, intense battles have been repeatedly fought. It was on one of these battlefields that Swan Veister experienced their first war.
“──Das… dasu gete…”
“…!”
Swan was frantically pressing against the chest of a humanoid demon dog lying on their back in front of him, their body covered in blood and riddled with holes.
“Damn it, pain suppression spell…!”
“Gahk—!”
“Coughing up blood! There’s blood pooling in the lungs… I need to repair the lung tissue with a spell—or no, prioritize stopping the bleeding first, then turn him on his side to prevent suffocation!”
With a pale face, Swan began to deploy a healing spell over the demon dog’s chest. Over the next few minutes, the Black Healing Codex tucked in the pocket of his white coat drained magic power from the depths of his being.
While he fought against the looming sense of exhaustion, the Dark Heal spell succeeded. With this, the man in front of him should have survived… for now.
The only thing left was to heal the gouged chest wound.
However…
“Is there a free Dark Healer?!”
There was no time to breathe a sigh of relief.
Newly injured soldiers were being carried into this medical camp, which had been set up by clearing the forest trees.
“Another ‘Rain of Light’ from the elves! A demon kingdom battalion has been wiped out! Many are critically injured!”
“No way…!”
“We’ve got a demon ape and its bicorn partner in critical condition! Both have multiple abdominal punctures and are unconscious! Immediate attention needed!”
“…!”
Swan looked around. Including the 21 trainee medics, there were only 35 medical personnel in total. But none raised their hands.
Every two minutes, one critically injured patient.
That was the frequency at which critically wounded soldiers were being brought into the medical camp during the fifth wave of the elves’ massive assault.
With treatment for one patient taking at least five minutes—sometimes as long as ten—the sheer numbers overwhelmed the medical team.
Even now, untreated critically injured soldiers lay all around.
“Swan, I’m sorry, but could you take care of the demon ape?”
A voice came from behind. When Swan turned, there stood Doctor Alaya , his white coat stained in places with blood. Despite his usual lethargic demeanor, a strange light flickered deep in his eyes as he lazily approached Swan.
“I’ll handle the bicorn. I doubt anyone here, myself included, has ever treated this species before.”
“Oh, uh, but I’m still treating this demon dog—”
“His life doesn’t seem to be in immediate danger. Gulf over there will be available soon, and even he should be able to manage that much. Pass it on to him. Your priority should be those closer to death.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Alaya raised his hand and called out, heading toward the demon ape and bicorn.
Doctor Alaya … what incredible stamina.
Due to the mixed nature of demonic beast species, their categorization is extremely fragmented. Today, Alaya had taken on almost every species they encountered for the first time.
I need to keep up too!
Swan turned to his fellow trainee, Gulf, who was treating a patient nearby.
“Gulf, did you hear that? Could you handle the rest of my patient’s treatment—”
But Gulf seemed not to hear him. With hollow, dark eyes, he stared down at his patient—a patient who had stopped moving, pale and drenched in blood.
Blood shimmered on Gulf’s lips, glistening wetly.
“G-Gulf… that patient… they’re already—”
“I… I stopped the bleeding. No, I need to do chest compressions. Wait, no, it must have been hypovolemic shock. I should’ve started with adrenaline infusion through a spell to the brain… no, no, no, that’s not it… that’s not it… THAT’S NOT IT!”
Muttering to himself, Gulf’s lips trembled slightly as he continued to speak.
“G-Gulf-san!”
“What… what should I have done? What could I have done…?”
“Gulf-san! Gulf-san!”
Swan grabbed Gulf’s shoulders with all his strength and shook him.
“Ah! Ahh!?”
Startled as if snapped back to reality, Gulf flinched, and his eyes finally focused on Swan.
“S-Swan-san…”
“Gulf-san! There are still many other patients! So please, pull yourself—”
Swan swallowed the words he was about to say, then rephrased them.
“—Can I ask you to take care of my patient…?”
“What?”
Gulf looked back and forth between Swan and the injured beastman Swan had been treating.
“B-but my hands, they’re shaking like this… I can’t…”
“This man won’t die anymore, definitely! He’s going to be okay! Please!”
Pushing the request onto him, Swan raised his voice, calling out, “I’ll take care of the magic ape! Over here!” and headed in the direction Doctor Alaya had gone earlier.
On the way, Swan glanced back. Gulf, though still trembling, seemed to be attempting to treat the wounds on the beastman’s chest.
…Earlier, I almost told Gulf-san this: There are other patients. So, ‘please pull yourself together.’
Pull himself together?
No, that’s impossible in a place like this.
“Guh-hah!”
The magic ape patient vomited a large amount of blood and passed away just seconds after Swan began treatment.
Swan’s lack of skill and judgment couldn’t keep up with the patient’s rapidly worsening condition, and the Dark Heal spell wasn’t enough. Blood spattered on his white coat, though it was impossible to tell which stain was new anymore.
Two hours later, the elves’ large-scale offensive finally subsided.
After finishing emergency treatment for all the wounded, Swan stumbled out of the camp, his body weakened from magical exhaustion.
“Guhhhhhh!”
In the shade of the trees, Swan found himself vomiting uncontrollably, hot liquid surging from the depths of his stomach. The overwhelming stench of iron made him wonder if he’d coughed up blood, but it was all yellow-brown bile. The metallic odor came from his blood-soaked white coat. His sense of smell, sharpened by the nausea, cruelly reminded him of the smell of blood.
“Hah… hah…”
Today, for the first time, I saw demons die right in front of me—or rather, I let them die. Two of them. In just one day, I let two lives slip through my fingers.
“Ugh… urgh…”
The cold faces of the deceased flashed in his mind.
He thought he’d done his best to provide proper diagnosis and treatment.
Yet, life kept slipping through his hands.
…Why did I even become a Dark Healer? Was it just to stand by and watch others die?
“Swan-kun.”
Startled, Swan turned around.
Doctor Alaya was standing there.
“…Do you want to use this?”
“What?”
What Alaya offered was a clean, white handkerchief. Swan shook his head, unable to imagine using something so pristine to wipe his mouth. But instead, the handkerchief was pressed to his eyes. That’s when Swan realized.
Ah, without noticing, he’d been crying.
“Pull yourself together… is what I’d like to say, but that’s impossible in a place like this.”
“…”
“The death toll today has already surpassed three hundred, it seems. Even so, it’s apparently the lowest number since the elven offensives began. So, it’s only natural not to stay sane here. But,”
Taking off his bloodstained white coat and holding it under one arm, Alaya continued.
“That beastman patient you treated? He’s made a full recovery. He thanked both of you and returned to his unit.”
“…!”
“Even in this madness, you’ve managed to save someone. I think that’s an incredible thing.”
“I… I’ve managed to save someone?”
Had he truly saved someone? It wasn’t an accomplishment he could claim entirely as his own. Even so, he had contributed to saving that person.
A tangled mix of relief and frustration at his shortcomings filled his heart, leaving him unable to put his emotions into words.
“Well, you’ll get used to it eventually.”
Swan couldn’t be sure what those words referred to, but with that, Alaya returned to the camp. Perhaps it had been a word of comfort.
…Maybe Doctor Alaya is kinder than he seems, someone who truly cares about his subordinates…
That morning, thrown into this chaos right after their “training” at Alaya ’s general clinic, Swan had cursed him in his heart: “That cold-blooded demon! That mad doctor!”
But upon reflection, Swan realized he’d been wrong.
Sooner or later, this battlefield, this twisted world, was where all military medics were destined to end up. They had simply been forced to face reality earlier than expected.
However, it wasn’t just cruelly thrust upon them. Swan and the other candidates had been receiving support and guidance from Alaya and other experienced medics, gaining real-world experience through actual practice.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this, though…”
Still nauseated, Swan wiped his mouth and stood up.
Though he’d managed to save a life, there were still patients who remained wounded. And as someone who had chosen the path of a military medic, it was his duty to care for them.
First day of practical training, 3:00 PM. Patients will undoubtedly continue to come.
Checking the amount of magical power he’d recovered, Swan made his way back to the camp.
